WINTON GROUP Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

WINTON GROUP Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 37.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,617 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $182,739,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,688,000 after buying an additional 1,552,946 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 402.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,739,000 after buying an additional 1,217,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 33.5% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,685,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,266,000 after acquiring an additional 674,366 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $47.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a PE ratio of 6.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.62. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $27.30 and a 12-month high of $52.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 13.52%. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SYF shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, and sweep and affinity deposits, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms.